Your Ultimate Guide to the Best Beauty Products and Treatments in 2014

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There’s a little something you can use that will make a huge difference when doing your smokey eye, or just want to have that sexy cat eye look. It’s called a Shadow Shammy, invented by celeb make-up artist Alexis Vogel.

It’s just fabric made of soft cloth cut into a triangle, BUT it is designed to fit the outside corner of your eye so that you can draw out your eyeshadow line perfectly. (People used to use credit cards for the same effect, but they are stiff and hard to use.) Even using it to just fill in the lower corner of your eye with dark shadow, can TRANSFORM the way you look. I know, it’s hard to believe such a little thing could make a difference, but it does.

Here’s how to use the shadow shammy (starts at 5 minutes 36 seconds in):

I haven’t been to him, but I’m going to give the best facelift plastic surgeon award to Dr. Chia Chi Kao of Santa Monica, California. His innovative technique called “The Ponytail Lift” or vertical lift (as opposed to the standard pulled back wind blown look) gives amazing, natural looking results.

The Ponytail Lift is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that simulates the lifting effects on the face while wearing the hair in a high ponytail. This procedure lifts the brows, cheeks, and the jowls simultaneously with tiny access incisions hidden in the scalp. It is done under IV sedation instead of general anesthetic.

NailSnaps make nail wraps from your Instagram photos or any photo. The possibilities are endless for your nail art. Nailsnaps is a free mobile app that lets you edit and crop your photos so you can get them to fit exactly the way you want on your nails, then NailSnaps prints your photos and turns them into custom nail wraps.

Currently, NailSnaps is a kickstarter project that is crowdfunded, meaning we all have to back it financially in order to make it happen. Check it out and please help spread the word!

I have really oily skin, so as the day wears on, I get shiny, especially around my nose. The usual oil blotting papers are those thin tissue paper things. They can’t even begin to handle all my oil. I’d have to use an entire pack.

Clean and Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets are different. They are on some kind of blue colored plastic film, not tissue paper. They work really well at sopping up excess oil without smudging your foundation. You can buy these at any drugstore (in America) or online. Great to carry around in your bag for a quick makeup refresh or before photos are taken.

Someone should have come up with this a long time ago: one time use nail polish.

Sephora has created what are called nail “press pods” so we can try out polish without having to buy an entire bottle. (Also great for traveling.) The pods have built-in brushes that deliver exactly enough polish for two coats on 10 nails. Sephora put 24 of its best selling Formula X nail polishes together for $40.00. Available in April.

When you’ve colored, and highlighted and colored again, your hair gets destroyed. I would have dry, over processed hair because I’ve had every color under the sun and my hair is long, but I don’t, thanks to certain products. My hair is silky and gorgeous.

What works to re-condition and soften bleached out and/or over-colored hair are the products that contain hydrolyzed human hair protein. The Joico K Pak shampoo and conditioners contain this. Joico K-Pak Deep-Penetrating Reconstructor for Damaged Hair is one that I use. The Joico line smells delicious, like banana and will repair your dried out hair, smooth out the cuticles and make it manageable. You really can’t have decent, manageable bleached hair without these products (those that contain hydrolyzed human hair protein.) It’s just not possible. You’re going to have nasty straw on your head.

A product that I think works even better than Joico is the Perfect Silk Kertain Enhanced Conditioner. However, it has a funky smell that lingers. I use it, but not if I think someone special is going to be getting close.

There is only one product out there (that I am aware of that) you can apply to your hair and it will turn the grey hairs back to their natural color. It’s called GreyBan. It’s not a dye. GrayBan works with the natural protein in hair to create melanin that gradually brings back your hair color.

I have not used this myself, but it gets good reviews from most people who have used it. They say you have to stick with it and not give up and after three weeks, you’ll have your natural hair color back. It’s worth a try.